Granddad: Wisconsin girl has no link to suspected kidnapper

Photo Credit: Jennifer Smith via AP

This Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 photo shows Jayme Closs, right, with her aunt, Jennifer Smith in Barron, Wis. Jake Thomas Patterson, a 21-year-old man killed a Wisconsin couple in a baffling scheme to kidnap Jayme Closs, their teenage daughter, then held the girl captive for three months before she narrowly managed to escape and reach safety as he drove around looking for her, authorities said. (Jennifer Smith via AP)

Granddad: Wisconsin girl has no link to suspected kidnapper

JEFF BAENEN
and GRETCHEN EHLKE Associated Press

January 12 2019 12:06 AM

Updated:
January 12 2019 12:04 AM

Photo Credit: Jennifer Smith via AP

MADISON, Wis.
-
The grandfather of a northwestern Wisconsin girl who authorities say was abducted during a home invasion that left her parents dead said Saturday that the family has no connection to the suspect and doesn't understand why he targeted her, deepening a mystery that has captivated the state for months.

Someone blasted open the door of James and Denise Closs' home near Barron with a shotgun in October , gunned the couple down and made off with their 13-year-old daughter, Jayme Closs.

Jayme had been missing for nearly three months Thursday when she approached a stranger near the small, isolated north woods town of Gordon and pleaded for help . Officers arrested 21-year-old Jake Thomas Patterson minutes later based on Jayme's description of his vehicle. He was jailed on suspicion of kidnapping and homicide.

Investigators have said Patterson's goal was to kidnap Jayme, but he appears to have no connection to the family. Jayme's grandfather Robert Naiberg said in a telephone interview Saturday that the only thing the family knows for sure is that no one knew Patterson. He said Jayme told FBI agents she didn't know him at all.

"He didn't know Jayme, he didn't know Denise or Jim," Naiberg said. "(Jayme) don't know him from Adam. (But) he knew what he was doing. We don't know if he was stalking her or what. Did he see her somewhere?"

Patterson attorneys Charles Glynn and Richard Jones said in a statement they consider the situation "very tragic" and that they are relying on the court system to treat their client fairly. Charges are expected against Patterson on Monday, when he is expected to make his initial appearance in court.

The news that Jayme was safe set off joy and relief in her hometown of Barron, population 3,300 and about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from where she was found. The discovery ended an all-out search that gripped the state, with many people fearing the worst the longer she was missing.

"Jayme had a pretty good night sleep it was great to know she was next to me all night what a great feeling to have her home. As a family we will get through all of the healing process Jayme has. It will be a long road but we are family strong and we love this little girl so much!!"

Another aunt, Sue Naiberg Allard, posted that Jayme got "the most awaited hug ever" when she returned home.

Jayme told one of the neighbors in Gordon who took her in that she had walked away from a cabin where she had been held captive.

"She said that this person's name was Jake Patterson, 'he killed my parents and took me,'" said another neighbor, Kristin Kasinskas. "She did not talk about why or how. She said she did not know him."

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said investigators are trying to figure out what happened to Jayme during her captivity and why she was seized, and gave no details on how she escaped except to say Patterson was not home at the time. He said there is no evidence Patterson knew Jayme or her family or had been in contact with her on social media.

"I know all of you are searching for the answer why any of this happened," Fitzgerald said. "Believe me, so are we."

The sheriff said he didn't know whether Jayme had been physically abused.

Patterson took measures to avoid leaving evidence at the scene, including shaving his head beforehand, and a shotgun was recovered from the home where Jayme was believed held, Fitzgerald said.

Property records show that the cabin belonged to Patterson's father at the time of Jayme's disappearance.

The cabin is in Eau Claire Acres, a development about 10 miles (16 kilometers) outside the tiny town of Gordon, nestled in the dense evergreen forests of northwestern Wisconsin that are popular with vacationers in the summer and snowmobilers and ATV riders in the winter. Law enforcement barricades blocked the road leading to the property Saturday.

Naiberg, Jayme's grandfather, said he spent a few hours with her on Friday. No one pressed her to talk, he said, adding that FBI agents and doctors advised them to let her speak when she's ready. He said she was largely silent and did not talk about how Patterson had kept her confined.

Patterson, who was unemployed, remained largely an enigma Saturday.

He has no criminal record, the sheriff said. He worked for one day in 2016 at the same Jennie-O turkey plant in Barron as Jayme's parents. But the sheriff said it did not appear Patterson interacted with the couple during his brief time there.

Over the past few months, detectives pursued thousands of tips, watched dozens of surveillance videos and conducted numerous searches for Jayme, including one that drew 2,000 volunteers but yielded no clues.

In November, the sheriff said he kept similar cases in the back of his mind as he worked to find Jayme, including the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 when she was taken from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. Smart was rescued nine months later after witnesses recognized her abductors on an "America's Most Wanted" episode.

___

For more stories on Jayme's abduction and her parents' deaths: https://apnews.com/JaymeCloss

Sheriff: Jayme Closs found alive, suspect in custody

Photo Credit: Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP, File

FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2018, file photo, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald speaks during a news conference about 13-year-old Jayme Closs who has been missing since her parents were found dead in their home in Barron, Wis. The northwest Wisconsin girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed has been found alive, authorities said Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019.

The Latest: Sheriff says detectives talking to abducted teen

Photo Credit: Barron County Sheriff's Department via AP

This photo provided by the Barron County Sheriff's Department in Barron, Wis., shows Jake Thomas Patterson, of the Town of Gordon, Wis., who has been jailed on kidnapping and homicide charges in the October killing of a Wisconsin couple and abduction of their teen daughter, Jayme Closs. Closs was found alive Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in the Town of Gordon.

The Latest: 911 caller: Teen said suspect killed her parents

Photo Credit: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald speaks during a news conference, Friday, Jan. 11, 2018, in Barron, Wis., regarding the arrest of Jake Thomas Patterson, who allegedly kidnapped Jayme Closs, Closs, a 13-year-old northwestern Wisconsin girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed, was found alive in the rural town of Gordon, Wis., about about 60 miles north of her home in Barron. Investigators believe Patterson, who was taken into custody shortly after Closs was found, killed her parents because he wanted to abduct her.

The Latest: Sheriff: teen to be reunited with family soon

Photo Credit: Barron County Sheriff's Department via AP

This photo provided by the Barron County Sheriff's Department in Barron, Wis., shows Jake Thomas Patterson, of the Town of Gordon, Wis., who has been jailed on kidnapping and homicide charges in the October killing of a Wisconsin couple and abduction of their teen daughter, Jayme Closs. Closs was found alive Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in the Town of Gordon.

The Latest: Sheriff: teen to be reunited with family soon

Photo Credit: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald is greeted early Friday, Jan. 11, 2018 in Rice Lake, Wis. Jayme Closs, a Wisconsin teenager missing for nearly three months after her parents were killed in the family home was found alive by a woman who stumbled across the 13-year-old girl. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office confirmed on its website that Jayme was found in the town at 4:43 p.m. Thursday, and that a suspect was taken into custody 11 minutes later.

The Latest: Sheriff: teen to be reunited with family soon

Photo Credit: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP

The sign outside Barron, Wis., City Hall, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, welcomes Jayme Closs, a 13-year-old northwestern Wisconsin girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed. Closs was found alive in the rural town of Gordon, Wis., about about 60 miles north of her home in Barron, authorities said Thursday, Jan. 10.

Sheriff: Jayme Closs found alive, suspect in custody

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Baenen, File

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2018, file photo, a Barron County, Wis., sheriff's vehicle is parked outside the home where James Closs and Denise Closs were found fatally shot on Oct. 15. The Barron County Sheriff's Department said on its Facebook page that the missing teenager Jayme Closs has been found alive Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, and that a suspect was taken into custody.

Sheriff: Jayme Closs found alive, suspect in custody

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Baenen, File

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2018, file photo, volunteers cross a creek and barbed wire near Barron, Wis., on their way to a ground search for 13-year-old Jayme Closs who was discovered missing Oct. 15 after her parents were found fatally shot at their home. The Barron County Sheriff's Department said on its Facebook page that that the teenager Closs has been located Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, and that a suspect was taken into custody.

The Latest: Sheriff: teen to be reunited with family soon

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Baenen

A "Tree of Hope" for teenager Jayme Closs is seen outside her school, Riverview Middle School in Barron, Wis, on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. Closs disappeared in October after her parents were killed inside their home. She was found Thursday, Jan. 10 in a town about an hour's drive away after approaching a woman walking her dog, saying she'd been held against her will.

The Latest: Sheriff: teen to be reunited with family soon

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Baenen

A thank you sign is displayed after Jayme Closs, a missing Wisconsin teenager was found alive more than three months after she disappeared, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 in Barron, Wis. Closs disappeared in October after her parents were killed inside their home . She was found Thursday in a town about an hour's drive away after approaching a woman walking her dog, saying she'd been held against her will.

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